Immune-ish

Chapter Twenty-Nine

EVA:

"Zane!" I scream, pushing on the door and breaking it down with ease. I already broke the camera off of it's wall mount so there should be no more issues.

"Zane!" I shout again into the hallways. In such early hours of night, it's surprising to find so few people roaming the halls.

I follow the sound of the dead to the large white door where I found Xander yesterday. I test the handle to find exactly what I expected: it's locked. I jump against it and it opens with only the doorknob breaking off, while the door stays on its hinges. 

"Zane!" Arms wrap around me, but they fall off when I push out with my arms. 

"Who are you?" a man demands from behind me.

I whip around, angry, and he recoils at the sight of me. I pull the hood off of my head and he lets out a yelp. My suspicions are confirmed: everyone thinks I'm a monster.

I must look like some insane beast in my rage so I don't blame him for being scared. I would be too, quite honestly.

I hear a door open on the other side of the room and I turn to face the slate-grey eyes of a monster in human form.

"Who's calling for me?" he snaps. His meet mine, and to my surprise, his reaction is as though he has been expecting me. A simple smile curls his lip upward. "Corpse-Girl."

I almost laugh at his name for me because it almost sounds like a superhero's name, but I keep a face of steel. "Eva." I take a step towards him. "My name is Eva."

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever." He also takes a step forward. "What are you?" He walks the rest of the way to me, and then walks around me in a circle, examining me.

My skin crawls, and it feels so close to pain, that I almost don't want it to stop. 

"How am I supposed to know?" I ask.

"Corpse, human," he finishes his lap around me and stands to face me, "or something in between?"

"Can you cure me or not?"

"I don't know." An impish grin twitches on his face. "Do you want to be cured?"

"Yes." The doubt doesn't show in my voice, but it is definitely present in my mind.

Zane's eyes travel to someone standing behind me. He wraps his arm around me and turns, walking me forward. I can't stop looking at him while I hear a cage opened among the moans that fill the room. "Then in the cage . . . you go!" He pushes me and I am sent tumbling to my knees in the cell just two down from the one Chloe was left in. The door is slammed behind me and abruptly locked.

I stand and face him through the bars. I can tell my right knee is bleeding, but I can't see how badly through my jeans, nor feel any pain to gauge the injury.

One of Zane's workers brings him a plastic chair and he takes a seat right in front of me with interest on his face.

"What are you doing?" I demand.

Instead of answering my question, Zane replies with, "Turn around."

I glare, but then do as he says. My eyes immediately land on the creature hunched in the back of the cell with a feral look upon its face. I fall against the bars and struggle to hold myself upright in my utter panic. The zombie man stands up and I scream against my will. Its skin is hanging off in chunks and its clothes are tattered and barely holding on to what's left of him.

"What are you doing?!" My voice comes out shrill and strained against my tightening throat.

"Studying you."

I don't even have a chance to wonder why. "Well, stop!" I grab the bars and pull with all my strength, but these are too heavy. They bend slightly, but there is not enough of a gap for me to fit through. I choke on my words as I shout, "Zane . . . stop!"

The zombie has not moved and yet I still cannot stop the fear from freezing my bones in place.

After another minute, Zane grows tired and says, "Move towards it."

I turn to him and cry, "No!" I would be bawling, if it were possible.

"Now!" He suddenly smiles evilly. "Or do you need some incentive?" A guard standing behind him raises a handgun and aims for my head.

I turn to the creature and take a small step forward. It still hasn't moved from its standing position.

"Closer," Zane urges.

I move as close as one arms-length away. I close my eyes, waiting for the bite to happen, and the actual infection to take hold. Maybe being a whole corpse will be better than living as an abnormal monster.

"Touch it."

I move my arm without looking. My hand lands on its sagging skin and I nearly gag. I yank my arm away and squeal, jumping back.

"Interesting," I hear the evil man murmur.

I open my eyes and examine the zombie. It still has failed to move, and has not made any advances towards me. To my surprise, it seems more interested in the floor than in me.

I look at Zane and he whispers to one of the guards, who has lowered his gun from my head. "Get her out of there," he says aloud.

I let my muscles relax, even as I am yanked with brute force out of one cage, and shoved into Chloe's cage. At least I'm not stuck with a zombie. My fear is even more irrational now that it's obvious that the creatures won't hurt me.

Zane disappears for a minute while I'm stuck with my thoughts and then reappears with an empty syringe and plastic gloves on his hands. He unlocks my cage and enters.

"Stand still," he commands of me, grabbing my arm and pushing up my sleeves.

"Are you going to cure me now?" I ask. The syringe is devoid of fluid, and it makes little sense to me for it to be empty. My excitement clouds my judgement, though, and I can't help but smile.

"No."

The excitement vanishes. "What?!" I pull my arm away. "What do you mean, 'no'?!"

"You're far too valuable for that." He grits his teeth. "Now give me your arm and stand still."

I step away and he follows, pinning me against the wall with his knee and left elbow. I don't struggle too much for fear that he will hurt me, if that's even possible.

"What are you-"

"Shut up!" He plunges the needle into my arm and pulls the plungers up. I don't feel a thing as it slowly fills with thin, purple blood. The image surprises me and I have to bite my lip to keep from screaming. It's not human blood, not even zombie blood: more proof I'm a monster.

When he is finished, he releases me and walks out, locking the door once more.

"If you're not curing me, then what are you doing with me?"

Zane stops mid-step and turns to me with more grace than I could ever manage. "You're going to be my soldier. The corpses don't mind you. You can do recon, find other towns, kill the vile creatures. It's perfect." He grins.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I will have someone kill you."

"If I run away?"

"I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and kill you with my own two hands." And somehow I know it's not an empty threat.

He starts walking away again, until I say, "You wouldn't dare kill me. You said it yourself. I'm too valuable." I know I have him here.

"Very true. But keep in mind, my dear Eva, there are things much worse than death." He walks away at that and his words ring in my head. Even if I don't feel pain, I don't doubt that he can still hurt me.

Xander? I beg in my head. You were right. Save me? Please?